System and method for delivering alerts

ABSTRACT

A method of communicating an alert includes: encoding data received from a plurality of sources by a central content controller (CCC) and determining existence of one or more alerts. If no alerts exist, the encoded data is assigned as streams to subchannels. For existing alerts, a market area (MA) is determined and the alert is assigned as a stream to a data subchannel and the encoded data is assigned as streams to remaining subchannels. For each MA without an applicable alert, the encoded data is assigned as streams to the subchannels. The assigned data is transmitted to regional controllers (RCs) for broadcasting to the associated MAs.

CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure is related to pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/377,373 filed on Jul. 15, 2021, Ser. No. 17/508,215 filed onOct. 22, 2021 and Ser. No. 17/508,221 filed on Oct. 22, 2021. Thesubject matter of each of these pending applications is incorporated inits entirety herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure is directed to communication of emergency alerts. Theuse of Emergency Alert System (EAS) to communicate alerts is known. EASreplaced the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) in 1997. EAS is designedto provide authorized officials the ability to communicate emergencyalerts and warning messages to the public. These messages can becommunicated via a broadcast antenna over the air (OTA) or by satelliteto radio and television receivers.

A recently adopted television standard, ATSC 3.0 (Advanced TelevisionSystems Committee) provides for the broadcast (over the air, OTA) oftelevision signals an internet protocol (IP) format which is the formatin which data is communicated over a broadband and/or internetconnection.

OTA interface is a traditional communication path for broadcasting toall receivers within a physical viewing or receiving range. Transmissionover a broadband (or network), on the other hand, can take place viaunicast (one destination) or multicast (multiple destinations).

While EAS was designed to provide the President the ability to addressthe country in a national emergency via all radio and televisionstations, it has been used almost exclusively to communicate severeweather alerts such as tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, wildfiresand AMBER alerts.

The EAS alerts can originate from local, state, or federal alertingauthorities. The messages can be delivered as radio frequency (RF)signals such as AM/FM. The messages can also be delivered over theinternet or via television (TV) broadcast stations. The alert caninclude a header, an audio signal, an audio message, a textualrepresentation of the message an alert end signal (as well as variousother metadata related to the alert).

In some systems, AV content may be encoded at a central location andcommunicated to local or regional areas for broadcast transmission. Inthese systems, a dedicated encoder is needed to encode EAS informationat each broadcast transmission site for broadcast over the air (OTA).

Example embodiments of the present disclosure provides a more efficient,effective and reliable method for communicating alerts.

The terms “user”, “viewer”, “customer” and “consumer” are usedinterchangeably within this disclosure. A “viewer” and “viewer premises”are also used interchangeably. The terms “AV signals”, “AV content”, “AVprogram”, “data files”, “data” and “broadcast content” are also usedinterchangeably. The terms “communicated”, “transmitted”, “submitted”and “sent” are all used interchangeably to indicate the sending of data.The terms “existing” and “active” are also used interchangeably inreferring to an alert. The terms “data channels”, “data subchannels”,“data streams”, “data substreams” and “subchannels” are also usedinterchangeably.

SUMMARY

According to an example embodiment, a method of communicating an alertis disclosed. The method comprises encoding, by a central contentcontroller (CCC), data received from a plurality of sources anddetermining existence of one or more alerts. If no alerts exist, the CCCassigns the encoded data as streams to a plurality of subchannels andtransmits the streams to regional controllers (RCs) each associated witha respective market area (MA). If alerts exist, a MA for each of the oneor more existing alerts is determined. For each MA having an activealert, the CCC assigns the alert as a stream to a data subchannel of theplurality of subchannels and the encoded data as streams to remainingones of the plurality of subchannels. The CCC transmits the assignedstreams to RCs associated with a respective MA for which the alert isapplicable. For each MA without an applicable alert, the CCC assigns theencoded data as streams to the plurality of subchannels and transmitsthe assigned streams to RCs associated with respective MAs. The receivedstreams are broadcast by the RCs to the associated MAs.

According to another example embodiment, a system for communicating analert is disclosed. The system comprises a central content controller(CCC) and a plurality of regional controllers (RCs) each associated witha respective market area (MA). The CCC is configured to encode datareceived from a plurality of sources and determine the existence of oneor more alerts. If no alerts exist, the CCC assigns the encoded data asstreams to a plurality of subchannels and transmits the assigned streamsto regional controllers (RCs) each associated with a respective marketarea (MA). If an alert exists, the CCC determines a MA for each of theone or more emergency alerts and for each MA having an active alert, thealert is assigned as a stream to a data subchannel of the plurality ofsubchannels and encoded data is assigned as streams to the remainingones of the plurality of subchannels. The assigned streams aretransmitted by the CCC to RCs associated with MAs for which the alert isapplicable. For MAs without an alert, the CCC assigns encoded data tothe plurality of subchannels and transmits the assigned streams to RCseach associated with a MA. Each of the RCs is associated with arespective MA and is configured to receive and broadcast the assignedstreams to an associated MA.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The several features, objects, and advantages of example embodimentswill be understood by reading this description in conjunction with thedrawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify thesame or similar elements. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system according to example embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication link according to exampleembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a communication link according to exampleembodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method according to example embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a central content controller according to exampleembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a set-top-box (STB) according to example embodiments;

FIGS. 7A-7D illustrate a display device according to exampleembodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates a user device according to example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are given toprovide a thorough understanding of embodiments. The embodiments can bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obscuring aspects of the example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to an “example embodiment” or“example embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic as described is included in at least one embodiment.Thus, the appearances of these terms and similar phrases in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. The headings provided herein are forconvenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of theembodiments.

According to example embodiments, methods and systems are disclosed forcommunicating EAS information without a dedicated encoder. Furthermore,alerts that are applicable to viewers in particular geographic,broadcast or market area may be communicated to those viewers from alocation that is remote from (or, outside) the market area associatedwith the viewer.

A system in accordance with example embodiments may be described withreference to FIG. 1 . System 100 may comprise a central contentcontroller (CCC) 101. Viewers may be located in a plurality of marketareas (MAs). A market area can be a broadcast coverage area or ageographic area. The physical size of a market area can vary from a fewsquare miles to as much as over one hundred square miles. A MA can be acontiguous geographic area for example. In system 100 of FIG. 1 , foursuch market areas 110, 120, 130 and 140 are illustrated. While four MAsare illustrated, this number is an example and the actual number of MAscan be higher or lower.

Each market area may have a regional controller (RC) associatedtherewith. RC1 (112) can be associated with MA1 (110), RC2 (122) can beassociated with MA2 (120), RC3 (132) can be associated with MA3 (130)and RCn (142) can be associated with MAn (140).

Data or content (such as audio visual (AV) data/content for example) 102from a plurality of sources may be received at CCC 101. The source ofthe data may be, but is not limited to, a national television networkfor example. The data may be received by CCC 101 over dedicatedterrestrial or satellite networks or over the Internet 150. The receiveddata may be encoded by encoder 104 of CCC 101.

Content encoder 104 may encode the received data 102 into an IP deliveryform using a particular codec such as MPEG-2 or H.265 for example. Theencoded data can be packetized and encrypted. In can also be packagedusing MPEG Dash or HLS or MP4 for example.

The encoded data may be communicated as one or more streams (datastreams or AV streams for example) by CCC 101 to one or more of aplurality of regional controllers (RCs) 112, 122, 132 and 142(associated with market areas 110, 120, 130 and 140) over acorresponding communication medium or link 108-1, 108-2, 108-3 and108-4. The communication medium can be a physical private network suchas, satellite, microwave, terrestrial or fiber for example. Thecommunication medium can also be a virtual private network (VPN) createdover a public network such as the internet for example.

The medium (108-1, 108-2, 108-3, 108-4) over which the data streams aresent (or communicated) utilizing the internet protocol (IP) may bestructured similar to a broadcast channel. In an example implementation,a broadcast channel may represent a 6 MHz slice of the radio frequency(RF) spectrum. The 6 MHz frequency bandwidth is specific forbroadcasting in the US and in North America—it may be different in otherjurisdictions. The data streams may be sent using Studio-to-TransmitterLink Tunneling Protocol (STLTP). The data streams may be multiplexed bya multiplexer (not illustrated) and exit CCC 101 via a broadcast gateway(not illustrated) and received by a RC. An exciter (not illustrated) atthe RC may modulate the data streams onto an RF frequency and send themodulated data streams to the broadcast antenna for broadcasting to themarket area in a known manner.

A RC can have an antenna associated therewith for broadcasting the datastreams (as data or AV signals for example) over-the-air (OTA) toviewers in the corresponding market area (MA). That is, RC1 (112) can beassociated with antenna 114, RC2 (122) can be associated with antenna124, RC3 (132) can be associated with antennal 134 and RCn (142) can beassociated with antenna 144.

The AV signals broadcast by the antenna can be received by viewerswithin reception range of the AV signals. In MA1 (110) for example, RC1(112) broadcasts AV signals via broadcast antenna 114. Viewers 116-1,116-2 and 116-3 within MA1 (110) can receive the AV signals broadcast byantenna 114.

A viewer 116-1 may receive the AV signals via an antenna 118-1associated with the viewer premises for example. That is, antenna 118-1can be associated with viewer 116-1, antenna 118-2 can be associatedwith viewer 116-2 and antenna 118-3 can be associated with viewer 116-3.

The received AV signals can be decoded and processed for presentation toa viewer by a device such as a set-top-box (STB) 119-1 for example. Aviewer and associated STB can be associated with a viewer premises suchas a home or an office, etc. That is, STB 119-1 can be associated withviewer 116-1 and antenna 118-1, STB 119-2 can be associated with viewer116-2 and antenna 118-2 and STB 119-3 can be associated with viewer116-3 and antenna 118-3.

In MA2 (120), RC2 (122) can broadcast AV signals via broadcast antenna124 for reception by viewer 126 via antenna 128 and processing by STB129. A similar arrangement is illustrated for the remaining market areassuch as MA3 and MAn.

For illustrative purposes, three viewers 116-1, 116-2 and 116-3 areshown as being located in MA1 (110) and within a reception range of theAV signals from broadcast antenna 114 of RC1 (112). One viewer (126, 136and 146) is illustrated as being located in each of MA2 (120), MA3 (130)and MAn (140). However, the number of viewers within a MA is typicallymuch higher. In some scenarios, a viewer can receive broadcast AVsignals from RCs corresponding to multiple MAs due the viewer beinglocated in a physical area where broadcast AV signals from adjacent MAscan overlap.

A viewer (116-1, 116-2, 116-3, 126, 136 and 146) within system 100utilizing an associated STB can also be connected via a broadbandconnection (115-1, 115-2, 115-3, 125, 135 and 145) to CCC 101 over theInternet or the cloud 150. CCC 101 may be connected to the Internet 150via a communication link 155.

The encoded data streams received by the RCs may be broadcast to viewers(or viewer premises) within the associated market area (MA) in themanner described above. A RC can receive signals from CCC that caninclude, for example, television programming for a plurality of channelsoperating on one or more associated frequencies. Each of the frequenciescan include a plurality of subchannels in a digital broadcast system.

In order to transmit emergency alerts (EAS) in existing systems, the RC(that receives an alert) is required to maintain an encoder for eachchannel of programming corresponding to a particular frequency that isbroadcast via the (RC's) associated antenna. Example embodiments obviatethis need for dedicated encoders by processing and routing the alerts ata central location (such as at CCC 101).

Under ATSC 3.0, television signals may be broadcast utilizing theinternet protocol (IP). The format used is the same format used forcommunicating data over a broadband and/or internet connection.

Referring to FIG. 1 , in addition to receiving data or content 102, CCC101 may also be configured to receive EAS alerts 105. Such alerts may bereceived from the plurality of MAs (MA1-MAn).

Alerts generated by the various entities/authorities (within a MA) maybe “gathered” by an EAS alert receiver and provide a single source ofalerts to down stream systems. One such receiver is a DASDEC™ devicefrom Digital Alert Systems, Inc. of Lyndonville, N.Y.

The alerts may be in the form of text files (such as in .xml format) andan audio stream. The receiver may normalize the alert data that can bereceived in different formats. The receiver can provide the alert dataas textual metadata and an audio stream. The metadata can includeFederal Information Processing (FIPS) codes which provide a level ofgranularity to a county or sub-county level in which an alert may beapplicable.

In example embodiments, such a receiver can be configured to communicatethe alerts to the CCC via an internet connection. A receiver, such asreceiver 113 of MA1 (110), can communicate alerts for MA1 to CCC 101 viaa communication link 111 over the Internet 150. Similarly, devices 123of MA2, 133 of MA3 and 143 of MA2 can communicate alerts for therespective MAs to CCC 101 via the respective communication links 121,131 and 141 over the Internet 150. CCC 101 may be connected to theInternet 150 via a communication link 155.

In FIG. 1 , Internet 150 and communication link 155 are shown induplicate (above and below CCC 101) to reduce clutter in theillustration.

The EAS alert received from receiver (such as from 113 for example) maybe processed by EAS processor 106 of CCC 101. The MA to which thereceived EAS alert is applicable may be determined. The text portion ofthe alert may be parsed into data variables representing the variousparameters of the alert such as, for example, description, type, timeand location. The FIB codes may then be mapped to their relevant marketareas. The audio for the alert can either be a file or a linear stream.The audio may be converted to a format that can be played on the STBsuch as DASH or MP3 for example. The formatted audio may be placed in adata broadcast (OTA) stream for delivery to the STB and on a ContentDelivery Network (CDN) for internet delivery. If it is a linear audiostream, it can be converted into an audio-only broadcast (OTA)subchannel.

Content encoder 104 within CCC 101 may check with EAS processor 106 ofCCC 101 to determine if an EAS alert is in effect. The functionalitydescribed above (content encoding/converting, EAS processing forexample) can be performed by a processor associated with CCC 101.

An example communication link, such as 108-1 . . . 108-n, may bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2 . Communication link 200 may comprisea plurality of data channels 201, 202, 203 and 204 (associated with onefrequency for example). A physical broadcast channel can consist of oneor more audio-video (A/V) streams, audio-only streams and data streamsas well as additional signaling information. Each of these channels cancarry a data stream such as data Stream 1, Stream 2, Stream 3, . . . ,Stream n. The data stream can be A/V, audio-only and/or data only (i.e.no video or audio).

In this context, the phrase “Data only” may refer to a stream where thetuner does not search for and play video or audio components of thestream but makes the data on the stream available to other processes onthe set-top box for consumption. As such, the bandwidth requirements fora data only channel can be less than those for A/V, video, audio, etc.Each of these channels can also be referred to as subchannels (may alsobe known as digital subchannels as they are included/implemented in adigital broadcast system). A stream may correspond to a linear list ofprograms (a “lineup” or “channel”) for example. Separate streams,therefore, may contain separate programs.

Communication link 200 may correlate to a 6 MHz broadcast channel forexample. The link may provide the medium for communicating a data stream(or streams) representing the information broadcast on the frequency ina STLTP format. The number of subchannels and streams can vary based ontransmission parameters such as modulation and code rate that facilitateadjusting of the signal characteristics such as range, strength and thelike. Only four such subchannels and streams are illustrated as anexample.

In one implementation example, the broadcast channel bandwidth of 6 MHzmay correspond to approximately 40 Mbps for a specific combination oftransmission parameters. If a 4K stream is encoded at 20 Mbps (perstream) for example, two such streams can be included (for 40 Mbps). Ifa 720p stream is encoded at 2 Mbps (per stream) in another example,twenty such streams can be included. A combination of streams withvarying rates can also be included. Using a combination of theseexample, one 4K (at 20 Mbps) stream and ten 720p (2 Mbps each) streamscan be included.

In a “normal” operation, without any alerts (emergencies for example), aplurality of encoded data streams can be transmitted over link 200. Eachstream (A/V, audio-only, or data) can be assigned to a separatesubchannel. Stream 1 can be transmitted over subchannel 201, stream 2 onsubchannel 202, etc. The streams can be transmitted or “sent” by CCC 210and received by RC 220. The receiving RC can then transmit the receivedstreams via an associated broadcast antenna to the market areacorresponding to the RC.

If, on the other hand, one or more alerts is received by CCC 101 (ofFIG. 1 ) from one or more of alert receivers 113, 123, 133 and/or 143,the alert may be sent over one of the subchannels. The subchannelcarrying the alert may be a data subchannel. As illustrated in FIG. 3for example, communication link 300 may include data subchannels 301,302, 303 and 304. In link 300, the alert may be sent over subchannel 303while other data streams (i.e. not alerts) may be transmitted over theremaining subchannels 301, 302 and 304. The alert could be sent on anyof the subchannels and is not limited to subchannel 303. The streams andalert can be sent by CCC 310 to RC 320 for broadcast over the air to themarket area associated with the particular RC.

A method in accordance with example embodiments may be illustrated withreference to FIG. 4 . In method 400, the CCC (such as CCC 101 of FIG. 1) may encode content (e.g. AV content) that is received by CCC 101 froma plurality of sources at 410.

A determination may be made at 420 as to whether any alerts have beenreceived from one or more of receivers 113, 123, 133 and 143 (i.e.whether any active alerts exist). If no alerts are active, the encodedcontent may be assigned as streams (data, video, audio and/or AV forexample) to subchannels at 430. The streams may be transmitted by theCCC to RCs at 440.

If, on the other hand, an active alert exists (i.e. at least one alert),a determination may be made at 450 as to how many alerts exist and themarket areas (MAs) to which the alerts are applicable. In someinstances, an alert (i.e. a single alert) may be applicable to multipleMAs.

For each MA with an alert, the alert may be assigned to one of thesubchannels while concurrently, non-alert content may be assigned to theremaining subchannels at 460. The subchannel to which the alert isassigned can be a data only channel. In some example embodiments, aparticular subchannel can be designated as “data only”. In this regard,this subchannel can be a dedicated subchannel that is dedicated tocarrying an alert. If a single alert is applicable to multiple MAs, thealert may be assigned to the data subchannel directed to the multipleMAs.

For MAs without an alert (while at least one MA has an alert so that theprocess 400 proceeds via the “Y” path at step 420), the content may beassigned as streams to the subchannels at 460. An alert may also beencoded/formatted prior to being assigned to a subchannel as a stream(not illustrated).

The streams assigned to the subchannels in steps 460 (in addition to theassigned streams of step 430) may be sent by the CCC to the respectiveRCs at 440. The receiving RC may then broadcast the content in thesubchannels over the air (OTA) to the corresponding MA at 470.

In system 100 of FIG. 1 for example, an alert may be received by CCC 101from device 113 of MA1 (110) via network links 111, 150 and 155. In thisexample, no other alerts (from other MAs) are received by CCC. CCC 101may transmit the data streams over (all) the subchannels to RC2, RC3 andRCn as the alert is not applicable to MA2, MA3 and MAn. Since the alertis applicable only for MA1, CCC 101 may transmit the alert over one ofthe subchannels while transmitting data streams over the remainingsubchannels to RC1.

Method 400 of FIG. 4 may follow the “Y” path if at least one alert isactive. If, subsequently, the previous alert is no longer active (theperiod or timeframe of the alert has expired for example), the methodmay switch to the “N” path. Conversely, the method may follow the “N” ifno alerts are active and subsequently, if an alert becomes active, themethod may switch to the “Y” path.

If the data received on one of the subchannels at a RC is an alert, theRC does not need to utilize a separate encoder at its (i.e. RC1 of MA1in the example described above) broadcast antenna location. The alertsmay be processed by the set-top-boxes (STBs) at each of the viewerpremises within a MA within an active alert.

The alert information communicated from CCC 101 to applicable RC(s) canalso include a universal resource locator (URL) where an audio portionof the alert (a file or a livestream) may be located that can beaccessed by the STB over the internet connection. The audio portion canalso be transmitted over another subchannel (separate from thesubchannel carrying other portions of the alert). The subchannels areall operating on one (the same) frequency.

The alerts received by STBs may be rendered as a separate layer by theSTB and presented over other AV content that is being presented to aviewer at 480. The user may set preferences on how the text portion ofthe alert may be “overlaid” above the displayed content. The preferencesmay include, but not limited to, text font, text size, text color,location on display where the alert is to displayed, etc. The audioportion can be mixed in or replace the audio corresponding to thecontent being viewed. In order to play the audio portion of the alert,the content being viewed has to be broadcast on the same frequency asthe alert (in separate subchannels).

A central content controller (CCC) in accordance with exampleembodiments is illustrated in FIG. 5 . CCC 500 may include, but is notlimited to, a processor 510, a memory 520, a communication interface 530and a system bus 540 for interconnecting these components in a knownmanner. CCC 500 can be a general purpose computing device. A processoror memory can also refer to a plurality of processors or memory devices.

Processor 510 may incorporate the functionality of content encoder 104and EAS processor 106 of FIG. 1 for example. It may encode content asdescribed at step 410, check for existence of alerts as described atstep 420, determine the MA at step 450 and assign data streams tosubchannels at steps 430 and 460 of FIG. 4 for example.

Interface 530 may provide communication between CCC 500 (or CCC 101 ofFIG. 1 ) and the plurality of RCs 112, 122, 132 and 142 in theirrespective MAs 110, 120, 130 and 140 via paths 108-1, 108-2, 108-3 and108-4 for example. The paths may be dedicated private network(s) forexample.

Interface 530 may also facilitate communication between the CCC 101 andSTBs 119-1, 119-2, 119-3, 129, 139 and 149 (of FIG. 1 ) via the Internet150. Interface 530 can also facilitate reception by CCC 101 of thealerts (EAS-1, EAS-2, EAS-3 and EAS-4 for example) from receiver(s) 113,123, 133 and 143 via respective paths 111, 121, 131 and 141. Interface530 may provide the communication (i.e. transmit) as described above instep 440.

CCC 500 may have AV content stored within memory 520. Memory 520 mayalso store any other information necessary for facilitating thefunctionality of CCC 101. This may include, but is not limited to,content received from multiple sources, information received from theSTBs, alerts received, list of market areas, routing information tocommunicate with RCs and instructions for encoding and assigning datastreams to subchannels for example.

A RC can also comprise a processor, a memory, a communication interfaceand a bus interconnecting these components as described with referenceto a CCC. Utilizing these components, the RC can receive content fromCCC and broadcast the content over the air (OTA).

An example device associated with a viewer such as a set-top-box (STB)in accordance with example embodiments is illustrated in FIG. 6 . STB600 (labeled as 119-1, 119-2, 119-3, 129, 139 and 149 in FIG. 1 ) mayinclude, but is not limited to, a processor 610, a memory 620, acommunication interface 630 and a system bus 640 for interconnectingthese components in a known manner. The STB may also be referred to as auser device.

Communication interface 630 may receive viewer inputs via a remotecontrol or a keyboard or other such input device 650. Interface 630 mayreceive data streams on the subchannels via an antenna 670 (if signal isbroadcast/broadcast multicast for example) or over an ISP gateway/modem680. STB 600 may also comprise a tuner 675 for tuning into the variousbroadcast frequencies. STB 600 may also comprise a demultiplexer (DEMUX)635 for demultiplexing the received streams.

Interface 630 may also provide communication with a display or monitor(e.g. TV) 660 for displaying AV content. The display may have audiooutput for playing the audio component of an AV file. Interface 630 mayalso communicate data with CCC 101 of FIG. 1 . The data may includeviewer input indicating viewer preferences such as content selection forthe type programming that can be communicated to the viewer example.Memory 620 may store the received streams (i.e. recording) for viewingat a time chosen by the viewer.

The “hints” referred to above may provide additional instructions orspecifics to STB 600 (or, one or more of STBs 119-1, 119-2, 119-3, 129,139 and 149 of FIG. 1 for example) for presenting the alert to a viewer.They may include, for example, color and font of the alert to bedisplayed.

Processor 610 may process the signals received via antenna 670 forpresentation on display 660, various inputs from a user/viewer inputdevice 650 and the alerts received in the subchannels from one or moreof the RCs 112, 122, 132 and 142.

Processor 610 may convert the alerts into a form suitable forpresentation in an overlaid form over content being presented to theviewer. The content may be presented in a translucent or opaque manner.If the tuner (of the STB) is set to the frequency on which the alert isbroadcast, then the alert can be presented to a viewer even if theviewer is not viewing AV content being received on the same frequency.The viewer may, for example, be viewing previously recorded AV contentor may be using the display for gaming purposes.

If the display device is not powered on, the alert may also be utilizedto initiate a signal from the STB to instruct the display device toswitch on and a subsequent signal to switch inputs to the TV so that theinput connecting the STB to the TV is activated. The signaling betweenthe STB and the TV may be carried over a High Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) cable connecting the STB to the TV for example. Suchsignaling can also be utilized to switch inputs to the display device ifthe viewer is paying a game on the display. The tuner has to be tuned tothe frequency on which alerts are being received.

The STB could be any reception device. It need not be limited to atypical hardware device as highlighted above. It can be any device (orsoftware) that comprises, but not be limited to, a processor, storage,internet connection and broadcast reception. It can be a mobile phone, atablet, a laptop, a desktop or the like. It can be an application (or an“app”) running on any of these devices. A component (or software module)may be a single device or be constituted as multiple devices (such asnetwork-attached storage, etc.).

Content presented to a viewer via a display device, such as displaydevice 650, according to example embodiments may be illustrated withreference to FIGS. 7A-7D. A viewer may be presented content 710 (such asa soccer game for example) on display device 700 as illustrated in FIG.7A. An audio alert, such as audio alert 720, may be presented to theuser over (or in conjunction with) content 710 on device 700 asillustrated in FIG. 7B. A video alert as an overlay, such as overlay730, may be presented to the user over content 710 on device 700 asillustrated in FIG. 7C. An audio alert 720 and video alert overlay 730,may be presented to the user over content 710 on device 700 asillustrated in FIG. 7D.

An example embodiment of a user device such as a STB is illustrated inFIG. 8 . STB 800 may receive signals for a plurality of channels such asRF channels 801 and 802. Each of these channels may correspond to aparticular frequency. The signals may be broadcast by a RC as describedabove. While STB 800 is illustrated as including multiple tuners (two inthis case), it can include one tuner or many (i.e. ≥2) tuners. Tuner 810may be tuned to the frequency on which RF channel 801 is beingbroadcast. Tuner 815 may be tuned to the frequency on which RF channel802 is being broadcast.

The signals received by tuner 810 may be demodulated by demodulator 820and demultiplexed by demultiplexer 830 into a plurality of streams 831,832, 833 and 834. These streams may correspond to subchannels (operatingon one frequency). A viewer may be viewing A/V content presented onsubchannel 832. The A/V stream on subchannel may be processed by a videoplayer 840 and composited by compositor 845 and communicated via a highdefinition multimedia interface (HDMI) 850 to display 875.

If an alert is included on a data subchannel as stream 834, the alertmay be processed by data stream parser 855 and rendered by alert userinterface (UI) renderer 860. The rendered alert may be composited withoutput of video player 840 by compositor 845. The composited data may becommunicated via a HDMI 850 to display 875. If no alert is active, onlythe A/V stream of 832 may be presented as illustrated in FIG. 7A. If analert is active (both video and audio), then the alert of datasubchannel 834 may be overlaid on A/V content of subchannel 831 asillustrated in FIG. 7D.

The signals processed by second tuner 802 may also include streams 836,837, 838 and 839 from a plurality of subchannels. Each of these streamscan be presented on display 875 as described above (via video player840, compositor 845 and HDMI 850) or one of these streams can berecorded by DVR subsystem 865 and stored in memory 870 for a laterviewing. One of the plurality of tuners can be set to be always “on” inorder to receive alerts or other information regardless of whether theuser is viewing broadcast content or using the display for otherpurposes such as being connected to subsystem 865 or playing a videogame for example. The use of dedicated tuners is described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/377,373.

Example embodiments as described may not be limited to presenting alertsover a display such as a TV. The STB of a viewer can access the viewer'slocation if the viewer is not present at his or her premises. The STBcan communicate with the user's computing device (such as a computer ora mobile phone) that may be paired with the STB via a network protocolsuch as Bluetooth for example.

A viewer may wish to record the received data streams (e.g. AV) forlater viewing. Since the STB (e.g. 119-1 of FIG. 1 ) receives AV datastreams in subchannels that are different than the subchannels in whichalerts are received, the alerts may be stored at a separate memorylocation (separate from where the AV data stream is stored). The alertsmay be removed from memory at the expiration time of the alert. When theviewer watches the archived or recorded content, the STB may “overlay”the alert if the alert is still active (i.e. still stored in memory). Inthis manner, if the recorded content is being viewed at a later time andthe alert is inactive at this time, the alert may not be displayed.

The reception and presentation of alerts may not be limited to STBs. Thealerts can be received by any device having an ATSC tuner. Such tunerscan be built into cars even if the cars do not have a TV or a videodisplay device. The audio portion of the alert can be played over thecar radio and/or speakers. If the car does have a video display, suchalerts can be presented on the display. An operator of the vehicle caneven be guided to avoid areas in which an alert is applicable. ATSCtuners can be built into home appliances, etc. The signals broadcastover the air can be received by the ATSC tuners that may be tuned to thefrequency on which the alerts are broadcast.

Features and functionality associated with example methods and systemsas described above may be implemented via software instructionsexecuting on one or more processors of one or more general purposecomputing devices or computing systems for example. By processing activealerts using processing resources of a STB, example embodiments obviatethe need for having separate, dedicated encoders at the broadcastlocation (i.e. RCs 112, 122, 132 and 142 in system 100 of FIG. 1 ).

The alert received at the CCC from receiver 113 may include, but is notlimited to, Alert short description, Alert message (in multiplelanguages), start and stop times, source (FEMA, etc.), geographic area(FIPS code), Type of alert (test, presidential message, weather alert,amber alert, etc), audio location (URL), audio format (MP3, WAV, etc.),audio type (file or stream), various IDs, whether to wake up the TV/STBor not (if supported) and any additional media (pictures, maps,documents, videos, etc.).

The alert information received by the STB may include, but is notlimited to, alert text, audio location(s) (OTA or OTT, file or stream),additional media (if supported), formatting hints (based on type ofalert . . . i.e. translucency, fonts, colors, layout, dismissibility)and start and stop times.

While the disclosure highlights AV content, example embodiments are notrestricted to processing and presenting such content. Any type of datacan be processed and presented utilizing aspects of the exampleembodiments described herein. In example embodiments, a particularsubchannel or subchannels may be dedicated for communicating andbroadcasting an alert. In case of broadcast malfunction, the alerts canbe received via the internet connection between CCC 101 and the STBs(116-1, . . . 126, etc.) as described in co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/508,221. If an identical alert is received viaboth the OTA interface and via the broadband/internet connection (suchas 115-1 of FIG. 1 for example), the STB (such as 119-1 of FIG. 1 ) candetermine which of the (identical) alerts are to be presented while theremaining alert(s) is/are to be discarded. The alert received first maybe presented while the one received next may be discarded or stored forexample. In some instances, the alert via OTA may be received before thealert via the broadband while in others, the alert via the broadbandmaybe received before the OTA alert. If an OTA alert is interrupted orfails, the broadband alert can replace the unreceived or all portions ofthe OTA alert. Similarly, an OTA alert can replace all or unreceivedportions of the broadband alert.

Although example embodiments have been disclosed, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can bemade which will achieve some of the advantages of embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Suchmodifications are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

Further, in the description and the appended claims the meaning of“comprising” is not to be understood as excluding other elements orsteps. Further, “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, and a singleunit may fulfill the functions of several means recited in the claims.

The above description of illustrated embodiments and what is describedin the Abstract below, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Although specificembodiments of and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, various equivalent modifications can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as will be recognized bythose skilled in relevant art.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ concepts of the various patents, applications andpublications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating an alert, the methodcomprising: encoding, by a central content controller (CCC), datareceived from a plurality of sources; determining existence of one ormore alerts; if no alerts exist, assigning the encoded data as streamsto a plurality of subchannels; transmitting the assigned streams toregional controllers (RCs) each associated with a respective market area(MA), else, determining a MA associated with each of the one or morealerts; for each MA having an alert: assigning the alert as a stream toa data subchannel of the plurality of subchannels; assigning the encodeddata as streams to remaining ones of the plurality of subchannels; andtransmitting the assigned streams to RCs associated with MAs for whichthe alert is applicable, the transmitted streams including the streamassigned to the data subchannel and the streams assigned to theremaining subchannels, for each MA without an applicable alert:assigning the encoded data as streams to the plurality of subchannels;transmitting the assigned streams to RCs each associated with arespective MA, and broadcasting, by each of the RCs, streams received bythe respective RC to the associated MAs via an over the air (OTA)interface.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating analert in a MA at which the alert is applicable; and communicating thealert from the MA to the CCC over a public or a private network.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: encoding the alert prior toassigning the alert to a subchannel.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, via an antenna associated with a viewer premises,the signals broadcast by the RC.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: processing the received signals by a user device associatedwith a viewer premises; and presenting content of the received signalson a presentation device coupled to the user device.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: rendering, by the user device, the receivedalert as a separate video layer over content being presented to theviewer.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: replacing an audioportion corresponding to the content being presented with an audioportion of the alert.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:encoding a universal resource location (URL) into the subchannel of thealert, the URL corresponding to a location of an audio portion of thealert.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: assigning an audioportion of the alert as a stream to a separate subchannel.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the alert assigned as a stream to the datasubchannel is unencoded.
 11. A system for communicating an alert, thesystem comprising: a central content controller (CCC) configured to:encode data received from a plurality of sources; determine existence ofone or more emergency alerts; if no alerts exist, assign the encodeddata as streams to a plurality of subchannels; and transmit the assignedstreams to regional controllers (RCs) each associated with a respectivemarket area (MA), else, determine a MA for each of the one or moreemergency alerts; for each MA having an active alert: assign the alertas a stream to a data subchannel of the plurality of subchannels; assignthe encoded data as streams to remaining ones of the plurality ofsubchannels; and transmit the assigned streams to RCs associated with aMA for which the alert is applicable, the transmitted streams includingthe stream assigned to the data subchannel and the streams assigned tothe remaining subchannels, for a MA without an applicable alert: assignthe encoded data as streams to the plurality of subchannels; andtransmit the assigned streams to RCs each associated with a MA, and aplurality of RCs associated with respective MAs and each configured to:receive the streams transmitted by the CCC; and broadcast the receivedstreams as AV signals to the associated MAs via an over the airinterface (OTA).
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the CCC comprises:a multiplexer for combining multiple data streams for transmission via atransmission link.
 13. The system of claim 11, further comprising: anantenna associated with each of the RCs for broadcasting the streams.14. The system of claim 13, further comprising: a user device having anantenna for receiving the broadcast streams.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the user device further comprises: a tuner for tuning the userdevice to one of a plurality of frequencies of the broadcast.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the user device further comprises: ademultiplexer for demultiplexing the received streams.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the user device further comprises: a rendering modulefor rendering the alert on an overlayer above content being presented ona display communicatively coupled to the user device.
 18. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the data subchannel of the plurality of subchannels isdedicated to alerts.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the pluralityof subchannels correspond to one frequency.
 20. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium containing program instructions forcommunicating an alert, wherein execution of the program instructions byone or more processors of one or more computer systems causes the one ormore processors to carry out the steps of: encode data received from aplurality of sources; determine existence of one or more alerts; if noalerts exist, assign the encoded data as streams to a plurality ofsubchannels; transmit the assigned streams to regional controllers (RCs)each associated with a respective market area (MA), else, determine a MAassociated with each of the one or more alerts; for each MA having anactive alert: assign the alert as a stream to a data channel of theplurality of subchannels; assign the encoded data as streams toremaining ones of the plurality of subchannels; and transmit theassigned streams to RCs associated with MAs for which the alert isapplicable, the transmitted streams including the stream assigned to thedata subchannel and the streams assigned to the remaining subchannels,for each MA without an applicable alert: assign the encoded data asstreams to the plurality of subchannels; transmit the assigned streamsto RCs each associated with a respective MA for broadcast via an overthe air interface (OTA) to the associated MAs.